Mella's Journey
by JiffyFrose
Summary: After a long wait, Mella and her daughter finally arrived at Amestris. To find her beloved, they teams up with Ed and Al. Will her loved one accept her, or detest her. EnvyxOC
1. Ch 1

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA or any of its characters.

Ch 1

A teenage girl was sitting on a rock, looking at the sunset. The girl had a little girl in her lap who looked around three years old, the older one stroked the girl's hair as the little one looked like she was about to fall asleep. One would think that the two looked weird, since all of the people in the country had black hair. The teenage girl had black hair, but the little girl had blonde hair. She lived in a country northwest of Amestris, they live in a country called Lebarya. Now, some people may get them confused with Ishvalans, but Lebaryans have coal black eyes. The girl looked down to the sleeping girl and said in her mother tongue, "My daughter, we will go back to the life we lived, before we were taken away from your father's country against our will." The little girl looked up and said, "Mama, how can we make it back? They guard the border just like a stingy man guards his money." The mother smiled at her daughter, she knew that for a three year old, she was pretty bright. "Sweetheart, when your mother was at the tender age of eight, she escaped Lebarya unscathed. If she can do it once, she shall do it again." The daughter nodded and then said, "Ok, mother. When shall we escape?"

"We shall wait for half an hour, after the sky has turned ebony black. After that happens, we will make our escape. What makes this even better is that we both have the power of invisibility." That's right; both of these girls are homunculi. They have seen many things change, but the one thing that hasn't changed is the greed of man. This woman remembers being alive, her memories are imprinted into her mind, even if it was hundreds of years ago that the girl has been through the flames of hell for what seemed eternity. The one thing she wanted was her life back, and she wouldn't let it fall apart due to the ignorance of the human beings that scarred her human life before her. Her daughter has seen her share of pain, why her mother had run away to Lebarya. She knew why her mother moved to Amestris, so her daughter, unlike her, could grow in a family with loving parents. She wanted her daughter to have the one thing in life that was deprived from her during her childhood, the feeling of love. One could not go on in life unless they had at least one person that loved them unconditionally, no matter what situation lies ahead of them.

When the sky turned black, the girl led her daughter into a place where only her eyes have seen. They walked in the middle of the street and she picked up a big piece of concrete, and through it aside, she held her daughter as she put the piece of concrete back into its place. The girl knew this underground tunnel did not have any other means of light, or any confusion along the way. The girl remembered this tunnel, the one she made hundreds of years ago to escape her horrifying life in Lebarya. The girl had many memories as she felt the bumps as she walked away from her home country of Lebarya. The youngest one decided to speak up and say, "Mother, what are we to do when we arrive in Amestris? You are not good in their language, even if you have lived there many years before my existence?"

"Sweetheart, I understand their language, but it is hard for me to speak the language."

"Why mommy? Why can I understand and you can't?"

"Because baby, I was scared of what people would think if I could speak. If your mother tried to speak their language, only her mother tongue would be able to come out of your mother's mouth." Her daughter understood her, since she has been around her more than any life form on this Earth, and that includes both humans and homunculi. "Mommy, when are we going to make it to Amestris?"

"In a few hours baby. I know you are hungry and tired, but you must have patience. When you have patience, the things you seek will be worth the long wait." She felt her daughter nod, and her daughter decided to go to sleep for the rest of the trip. When they finally made it to Amestris, the girl had to find lodging. She would have been able to walk farther, but with the little girl in her arms, she could not go very far. She walked in a little village and tried to find a place where they could stay the night. The girl walked to the house and knocked on the door. An old lady wearing an apron answered the door, she said, "Welcome to Rockbell Automail Outfitters, how may I help you?" She looked at the woman wearing foreign clothing, and holding a child that did not look to belong to her. The mother of the blonde said, "Excuse me miss, but my daughter and I need a place to stay for the night? May we stay here?" The older woman said, "Excuse me miss, but I didn't understand you?" The youngest one woke up and said, "Mama, where are we?"

"In Amestris." The blonde turned around and said, "Hello lady." The older lady looked shocked that the woman who held the child could not speak her language, but the little blonde could. "Do you mind if we stay for the night? We only have foreign currency, but we can do manual labor if you can't accept the money." The older woman thought for a while and said, "Come on in." She took the two in and said, "Winry, these two will be spending the night here. Please show them to their rooms." Winry gave her grandmother a puzzling look and her grandmother's look said, 'just do it.' She showed them the guest bedroom and said, "This is where you will be staying." The black haired girl felt the bed, and smiled and said something to her that she couldn't understand. The blonde looked up and said, "She said thank you." Winry nodded, and walked downstairs. When Winry walked downstairs, she said, "Grandma, does that girl speak our language?"

"No Winry, I believe she is from Lebarya. How she got out of the country is news to me. They guard that place from day in to day out." Winry nodded, then said, "Don't you think it's strange?"

"What are you talking about Winry?"

"First of all, the black haired girl can't speak our language, but the blonde girl can. And even when she does speak, she has an accent. Second off, the black hair girl looks my age, maybe even a little younger. What is she doing in Amestris with a small child. Thirdly, how can a child as young as her be so smart? It's like she has already grown up."

"That's what I'm wondering too, Winry." Winry decided to go upstairs to speak with the two foreigners. When she reached the door, she knocked twice then entered. She walked over and sat on the bed next to the black headed girl. She said, "Hi, my name is Winry, what is yours?" The black haired girl said, "Ismii Durate." Winry gave her a questionable look and the blonde said, "Her name is Durate."

"Oh, is that a common name in your country?" The woman named Durate said to her, "No it's not. That name is what you would give to a dirty animal." Winry gave her a skeptical look and the blonde little girl said, "No, it's not. And she doesn't like her birth name that much. She prefers to go by Mella."

"Ok, I'll just remember that you prefer to be called Mella. Mella nodded. She then turned her sights onto the little blonde girl and said, "What's your name little one?"

"My name is Nawal. And Winry, I have a question. Do you have a spare notebook? My mother can't speak the language but she has learned to write in it." Winry nodded and went downstairs and said to her grandmother, "Hey grandmother, that blonde haired girl is the black haired girl's daughter."

"I wouldn't be surprised Winry. They make them marry young in Lebarya."

"What makes me wonder is that wouldn't her husband be with her if she was travelling. Isn't it scandalous for a Lebaryan woman to travel without a male companion?"

"I think so, Winry. But don't scare her."

"I won't." Winry brought the notebook to Mella. Mella nodded, and grabbed her pen and put it next to her bed. Winry said, "Mella, how old are you?" Mella took her notebook and wrote 17 on it. Winry then proceeded to say, "So you got married when you were 14?" Mella shook her head and wrote 13. Winry nodded, and then asked, "Where's your husband?" Mella wrote, "I don't know." Winry then said, "How can you not know?" She wrote, "I was taken away from him, and I haven't seen him for a long time." Winry nodded and looked across the window. She saw someone approaching the building. She smirked, open the window and threw her wrench at that person's head. The person grabbed his head and yelled, "Winry!" She smirked. A few minutes later, she heard two people barge into the room. They said, "Winry, that hurt!"

"What's wrong with you Edward? You haven't come to visit me in a long time?"

"I've been busy searching for the Philosopher's Stone!" He then looked at Mella, who was seated on the bed. He said, "Hi, I'm Edward. What's your name?"

"Mella." He nodded and then saw Nawal sitting next to her. What's your name?"

"Nawal." He then said, "Are these two going to stay awhile?"

"No, just for the night." He nodded and said, "Are you two sisters?"

"No," Nawal said, "That's my mother."

"How old is she."

"17."

"Oh, where's your dad?"

"I don't know."

"How can you not know?"

"Edward," Winry said, "Where's your father?"

"How should I know?"

"See, you shouldn't pick on someone who's in the same situation as you."

"It's not the same! She wants to find her dad, but I could care less!"

"Alphonse, do you want to find your dad?"

"Well, it would be nice if we could."

"See Edward, you're outnumbered."

"Whatever Winry. Can you fix my automail?"

"You already broke it with your wrench!"

"Oh really, how?"

"You threw it so hard that it hit my head. It then bounced off and hit my arm and broke it!"

"Alright, just come down." Edward nodded. They left. Nawal said, "Mama, he looks so much like him."

"Like who?"

"He looks like either daddy or grandpa."

"Don't bring up your grandfather around me. Not after what he did to me."

"Mama, it's been 400 years ago."

"I realize that. But ever since he has done that unforgivable act on me, my life has changed for the worse."

"Mama."

"Sweetheart, this is a lesson I must teach you. Love the people around you, even if they treat you like dirt, are from a different culture, looks different from you, has a different taste in clothing and all the differences in the world people might have from you. One should not be hostile if they haven't walked a mile in the other person's shoes. Do you understand?"

"Yes mother."

"Hey mommy?"

"Yes Nawal?"

"You know how I have the power of invisibility, just like you?"'

"Yes my darling. I know"

"But I can also morph as well, is that normal?"

"I do not know. If I have the power of invisibility that you inherited from me, your father must also be able to morph."

"So, in order to find dad, we have to find a homunculus that can morph."

"Yes."

"But where do we start?"

"I don't know. Let's go downstairs to join the three of them." While they were going down the stairs, they heard a cry of pain. The two got downstairs as fast as they could. They ran over only to find Ed on the couch and Nawal said, "Ed, are you ok?"

"I'm fine; it's just the automail that was recently connected to my body."

"Oh, okay." She then saw Ed's state alchemist watch. She pointed at it and said, "What is that?"

"Oh this," Winry said, "That's Ed's state alchemist watch." Nawal went to touch it and Ed yelled," Don't you touch it!" Nawal ran and hid behind her mother. She then said, "Winry, what is a state alchemist?"

"An alchemist that works for the Amestris military."

"Oh." Mella pulled Nawal into another room and said, "Nawal, he might help us."

"He might, but mom…"

"Sweetheart, he's still in pain from that automail being installed. Maybe if we asked nicely, we can travel with him. Along the way, we might run into him or get a big lead as to where he is."

"Okay." They then walked into the room and Nawal said, "Hey Edward, can we travel with you?"

"Why should I take you with me?"

"Because, you need help with the Philosopher's stone and we want to find my father. We can help each other along the way."

"Why should I?"

"Hey Al…"

"Ok, you can travel with us!"

"Yay!" Mella smiled a smile that she hasn't smiled in a long time.

"Hey, when are we leaving?" Nawal asked.

"In a few hours." Ed said.

"Ok Nawal, you need to go to sleep. We have a huge day ahead of us."

"You shouldn't be talking! You look sleepy, and you have walked under that underground tunnel for a few hours, and you still haven't had any sleep." During the conversation, Ed and Al looked at Mella and Nawal with questionable looks. Winry then said, "They're from Lebarya."

"Ohhh… well I better get some shut eye. Goodnight." Ed fell asleep on the couch, Mella and Nawal went to the guest bedroom. And Al just sat there, since he couldn't go to sleep. Winry and Pinako looked at each other and then decided to get some shuteye as well.

Please R&R, flames welcome.


	2. Ch 2

Hone' Sweetie: Thank you for the review! Sorry it took forever to update.

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA… Hiromu Arakawa does!

Ch 2

Mella woke up, and saw Nawal sleeping beside her. She smiled, and stroked her hair as she thought, 'This child went through so many things, she has seen too much, and yet she keeps her childhood innocence. How can this be done?' She then looked over to her other side, her son Yuseff (A/N: Sorry if this is starting to sound confusing… it will be explained why she had not talked about her son later in the story), was sleeping like a baby, of course, he was a little baby. She smiled; this child had black hair like her, but golden eyes like his father. He woke up, and Mella took to feeding him. Nawal woke up and said, "Mother, how long are you going to go without telling them about Yuseff?"

"The longer I can the better. It would be a bad thing if the others could tell if he doesn't age, since we are journeying with them." She nodded, and then skipped off, to see who else was in the house.

Nawal started humming a song her mother taught her ages ago, and looked off at the table. Al, Winry and Pinako were sitting at the table, but she did not see Ed. "Where is Ed?" Asked Nawal. "He likes to sleep," Winry responded, "He did look tired yesterday." She nodded, and then took to eating. Winry looked at Mella and said, "How did you sleep?" Mella took out a pen and wrote, "I slept well, a lot better than usual." She then proceeded to show the notebook. Winry then asked, "Hey Mella, may I ask you a question?" Mella took out her notebook and said, 'No, of course not.' "Well, how come you can write in our language, but can't speak it.' Mella was shocked about hearing her question. She composed herself long enough to write, 'Because I cannot.' Winry looked puzzled, "But the Lebaryan language looks nothing close to the language spoken here. So how did you learn how to write?' Mella was starting to get annoyed. It was none of her business. Who was this girl to pry into other people's personal matters? Let alone, someone she only met the day before.

Before anything could be said, Ed came down the stairs. He stretched his body, and gave out a little yawn. "Hey Winry, is breakfast ready?" She nodded, and proceeded to give him a plate of pancakes. He was eating as though he had not eaten a good meal in days. Mella looked a little disgusted, while Nawal was laughing and pointing at him. He gave her a dirty look and said, "Hey, what's the deal kid?"

"Nothing, what's the deal with you shorty?"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT A GUINESS WORLD RECORD BOOK WOULD HAVE ME AS THE WORLD'S SMALLEST MAN!!!" Edward shouted. Mella was at a loss, she had to get out of there, and quick. The little bundle of joy that she had been hiding from everyone was about to make its presence known, and she could not handle that. She grabbed Nawal, her notebook, and made a dash for the bathroom upstairs. While running upstairs, she kept glancing at her little boy, who looked about ready to burst into tears. When she slammed the door to the bathroom, the boy let everything out. She turned on the shower, and started rocking her baby back and forth. "Mama, don't you think they are going to be suspecting someone, and besides, why did you turn on the shower? Are we going to take a bath?"

"Well, we did not wash off our filth, so we should before starting our journey. And besides, this little one likes to listen to water running." Yuseff, who could barely crawl, was trying his best to make it over to the shower head. He reached his hand out, before being pulled back by his mother. "I know you love to be in the water Yuseff, but your sister needs a bath, and then I shall bathe you." Yuseff was a stubborn infant. He wanted to be in the water, to feel it run through his fingers. He tried to make it past his mother, but was denied entry. He scowled, and tried to find something to entertain his time. Nawal lathered the child's hair and body, and was now cleaning her with the water. She put Yuseff in the sink, and he started to giggle. He started to splat the water everywhere; feeling the liquid substance splash wherever it landed. He started to full out laugh. Mella went, "Shhh! They don't know you're here, you have to be quiet." The child, not really understanding what was going on, disobeyed his mother. Mella was nervous that Ed and the others would barge in, and make the discovery of her baby. She washed his hair and his body, before draining the makeshift basin, and drying him off. She wrapped him in a blanket, and then proceeded to take her shower. She told Nawal to hold him, and to make sure that Yuseff did not get close to the water. Yuseff was not very happy with this. He was squirming, trying to reach for his mother, who was in that watery substance.

After Mella was done, she got dressed, hid the baby under her scarf, and went down the stairs. She saw the four of the people talking. They looked up, and Al said, "Mella, Nawal! Where have you two been?"

"We were taking a shower. We forgot to do so when we got here. We probably thought that we smelled really bad, and wanted to make ourselves clean. Is that okay?" Winry was shocked by how much this girl talked, and she sounded more mature than a three year old. Mella looked over at Ed and Al, and then wrote on her tablet, 'Are you guys ready to go?' Ed nodded, and said, "Winry, it's nice catching up with you, but we have to go on a journey."

"Bye Edward! And good luck Nawal on finding your father!" Nawal smiled, and waved at Winry as they walked further and further away from the house.

That morning, Edward said that they were boarding the train for the Southern Headquarters. As they were riding the train, Al was a little anxious. Ed noticed this, "Alphonse, what's wrong?"

"Teacher." Al said, with a strong sense of fear etched in his voice. Ed turned pale, and started to have a cold sweat. Nawal asked, "What's wrong Ed? Al? Who's teacher?" Mella was in thought, she was trying to figure out who this 'teacher' was. It was not long until her question had been answered. A woman with a ponytail with dreadlocks, and wearing a trenchcoat, had looks that could kill the heartless of all murderers. She took Al and Ed and yelled, "EDWARD ELRIC! HOW DARE YOU BECOME A DOG OF THE MILITARY!! HAVE I NOT TAUGHT YOU BETTER THAN THAT??!!" Nawal looked very confused, Mella was scared of the ticking timebomb underneath her scarf. She started to make funny faces at him to make him quiet. "Um… Mella, what are you doing?" She quickly responded, 'Yawning.' The woman looked a little puzzled. "Edward, why is this woman not speaking?"

"Oh… you mean Mella? Mella, this is Izumi Curtis, my alchemist teacher." Mella held out her hand, but she did not receive the same offering. She quickly took it back. Nawal was hiding from the woman, scared of how she would greet her. "Edward, you still have not answered my question." He gave her an 'I'll tell you later' look. "Who is this child? What is your name?"

"Nawal."

"That sounds like a foreign name."

"It is."

"What does it mean?"

"Gift."

"Ahh… aren't you a little something?" The little girl smiled. The trained stopped, and everyone got out of the train, except for Izumi, who was holding Ed and Al back. "You are coming back to my house in Dublith, no exceptions." They waited an hour, and then got off of the train. They then went to the woman's house, which was also a butcher shop. "So Edward, who is this Mella girl?"

"She's a girl from Lebarya."

"You mean the place with the weird writings and the guards guarding it as though a secret treasure is hidden inside their kingdom?"

"Yeah, I wonder who they are trying to keep out?"

"They aren't trying to keep anyone out," Nawal butted in, "they are trying to keep the citizens of that country in. They do not want anyone to leave their country… under any circumstances."

"Then aren't you an illegal immigrant?" Izumi asked.

"No, I was born here, in Armestris. So I believe that I am of a legal status here."

"Is your father from here?"

"Yes."

"Where is he?"

"I have no idea. That is why we are here. That is our purpose to find my father."

"When was the last time you have seen him?" Mella, who was sitting there eavesdropping on her conversation with Ed and Al's strange teacher, began her train of thought, 'If I had to take a stab in the dark, I would say 403 years.' "It has been a while, I do not remember when."

"Well, I hope you find him soon. I know what we can do, let's all go out on a boat ride."

"Yay!!" Nawal cried, relief flooding through her. Everyone got onto the boat ride, and Sig Curtis was working the oars. They soon saw a small island, and Ed and Alphonse were the first to get off. When they looked back to see where the others were, they were 20 feet away. "Hey get back here, are you leaving us alone again?"

"You have 30 days Edward; I want you to live without using alchemy." She then looked back at the two girls. "I know you would want to be with your friends, but they need to be alone. And besides… how can this child live on wild animals? I could not live with myself if I did such a thing." 'Believe me, you have no idea what this child has been through, or this one.' Memories of the past filled her head, memories that she would rather be locked away in the back of her head, ones that she would never want to remember. But they were still there, as vivid as day. "Okay Mella, when we get home, I want you to tell me how you ended up here in this country." They rode to the shore of Dublith, and then went to the Curtis household, where Mella was apprehensive. What does this woman know? Does she know more than she lets on?

Please R&R! Constructive Criticism is welcomed, no flames please!


	3. Ch 3

Tsukasa-kun: Thank you for the review!

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA, Hiromu Arakawa does.

(A/N) Mella is going to speak a lot in this chapter, not write. Hope everyone gets this message so it won't be confusing.

Ch 3

Izumi, Sig and the two girls (and one infant) entered the household an hour after they dropped the Elric brothers. Sig stood at the counter awaiting customers. Izumi sat Mella and Nawal down at the kitchen table. Izumi took Mella's hands as asked her, "How did you get here?" Mella took out her notebook, and she wrote, 'We ran away.'

"How did you run away?"

'I snuck through the fence and went down a secret passage… is there a reason you wish to know this?'

"Something about you seems… peculiar, I just don't know what it is." 'I hope she doesn't know our secret, it would blow in our faces.' Mella thought, with apprehension. "Why did you come to Armestris?"

'To find my husband.'

"Oh, did he move down here, and you had come to find him?"

'No,' she wrote, 'When I was younger, I ran down here earlier to escape my abusive parents, this woman found me and allowed me to become her maid. She had a son who was a year older than me. After he got dumped by one of his girlfriends, he was so sad. I went and I listened to what he had to say, even though he couldn't understand a word I said. We had eventually fallen in love.'

"Wait, how did you fall in love if neither of you could understand each other?"

'It took time. I would speak in my native language, and he would speak the language you spoke. As time grew, I began to understand what he was saying, and the same with me. I taught him to write in my language, and he taught me to write in this language.'

"And this child was a product of your relationship?"

'After the marriage, I have more morals than that!'

"And his parents were happy with it?"

'They had no idea, and to this day, they have no clue. There was no reason to tell them. They wouldn't approve. I'm surprised that they didn't catch on what was happening. When I began to show, his mother said that the reason I got pregnant was because I was whoring myself off to different men. Which wasn't true.'

"By the looks of your child, she doesn't look like you very much. She looks a lot like Edward. Nawal, you remember what your father looked like?"

"He looks like Edward," she said, "His hair was the same color as his, but my father's hair was wavier, and he was taller than him. Just don't tell Edward that, he would go berserk. And they have the same eye color. Which I didn't inherit."

"Okay, I understand. How long have you been apart from your husband, Mella?" Mella began to shake, not out of nervousness, but anger, she then said, "Ever since what that bastard has done to me. He took away my life just so he can get what he wanted. That fucking bitch ruined it all. She said it was my fault, but that was a lie. How could she call me a slut? If she wanted one, she could look in the god forsaken mirror!" Izumi was in shock, this gentle woman seemed so angry, and for what reason? She could not understand a word that she was saying… and she was a little relieved that she didn't have to. Her voice seemed so full of anger and disgust, that she was afraid to ask what she really said, and didn't know if what she had just said could have the possibility for changing her life as she knew it… and not for the better. "Mella, you seem a little upset, would you like some tea?" Mella spoke something in her native tongue and left the room. "What did she say, little one?"

"She is going for a walk, and she should be back in 30 minutes. She needs to be alone."

"NAWAL?" Mella half asked- half shouted. "I guess she would wish for me to go with her." Nawal said, and ran after her mother. Sig came to the back and said, "What did you say to her? I had a customer and, if looks could kill, there would be no hope for him right now."

"Did she start freaking out, and yelling?"

"No. She just stood there and glared holes into this man. I have no idea what you asked her, but it looks as though it was bad enough that she could kill a whole village."

"I asked her how long had it been since she had last seen her husband, and she just freaked out."

"Maybe he ran away or something. You never know. Just be there for her if she needs it."

"Alright."

"Mother, stop yelling! You're getting attention from everywhere."

"Does it look as though I care?" Mella asked, and then let out an anger-filled laugh, "I hope she got what was coming to her. Everything was perfect… until she ruined it all."

"Don't worry about it mother. You have me and Yuseff." Mella smiled and sat down on the bench. She looked down where she was hiding the small child. "Marhaba, ya alby. Anaa bihebak. Inta mupsut? Na'am? Na'am! (1)" Mella said as she tickled the baby's tummy. The baby giggled, and then clapped his hands. He then tried to get out of the cloth. "No, no! Baby can't get out of there." Mella said, as she tried to put him back into the cloth. The boy's eyes began to water, and then his bottom lip began to quiver. "Oh no. Sweetie, do not cry!" Mella said, as she rocked him back and forth. This did not work, and the little boy began to sob. There was only one way that little Yuseff would stop crying, and that was if she were to sing. She began to sing.

"_A new feeling gets bigger in your heart_

_You feel it every time you look at me_

_That you are always thinking of me _

_You much long for me and die for me." _She sung the line over again, and then she looked down. The baby was already asleep, cuddled up to his mother for warmth. "Mommy, when do you think we will be united with daddy again?"

"Soon, real soon, baby. I know it has been over 400 years since your father has last seen our faces, but this does not mean that we will never see his face ever again. You must have faith, and never give up hope. Remember baby, with each passing day, we become one more day closer to seeing his face. We need to get back to Izumi's. They probably thought that I had massacred a whole town by the way I was acting."

"That's the understatement of the century."

"And what do you mean by that, il-anessay saghiri (2)?" Mella asked.

"You scared the living light out of that one man who was in the store. He probably thought that you were someone coming to end the world."

"Maybe I did come off a little too strong." Mella said.

"You said it, not me." Mella glared at her daughter for two seconds, and then laugh. "Come here, baby. You are probably tired after the long journey that we had, and when I said journey, I meant walk." She bent down and picked up her daughter, and carried her to the house. When she opened the door, she saw Sig standing there talking to Izumi. They looked at her and smiled. "Dinner will be ready in a half-hour. Is that much time for you two to get ready?"

"Yes, let me let this little one rest so that she will be ready to join us at the table." She went up the stairs, and closed the door. She put her babies down onto the bed that she was shown as her room for the duration of her stay. 'Poor Nawal, She is only three years old, yet she has seen too much. Even when she was still human, she had seen how horrendous humans can be. How people will pursue after their lusts with no consideration for no one else. How people never admit to their wrongdoings, and find a whipping boy instead. How people live in the past and not the future. How people do not listen to others, even when they clearly know that there are two sides to every story.' Her little boy was asleep in no time at all, but she knew that she could not leave him up here. If she did, and they found him, they would know her little secret. How would they react, knowing that they were all Homunculi? They would probably freak out, that's for sure. "Mama?" Nawal asked, putting a break to Mella's train of thought. "Yes, Nawal? Is there something you want?"

"How long will it be until we find father?"

"It shouldn't be too long. All we have to do is travel with the two brothers, and then we will find him in no time. I promise."

"Okay, mom." Nawal then closed her eyes, and resumed her sleep. 'In truth, Nawal, I do not know. No one knows. Maybe we'll find him, maybe we will not. Even though you have been exposed to all of the tragedy to the world, you still retain some of your innocence. You are so grown, but in many ways, you still are the child that I had 400 years ago. You still have that sparkle of innocence in your eyes, and I hope that never leaves you, Nawal.' There was a strike of thunder, and this woke up both Nawal and Yuseff. Yuseff, like any other toddler in the world, started to holler. Nawal shrieked and then clung onto her mother. Nawal had always been afraid of thunderstorms, and tonight was no different. Yuseff was just grumpy because the thunder had awakened him. She decided to open the window up, and let him feel the water. The babe started to giggle with glee, and clap his hands. He tried to go further out the window, but Mella would not let him. Yuseff was not happy that his mother was holding him back. He started to let out a little whine, but then Mella stuck out her hand, and then threw it onto him. He started to giggle, and then Mella did it again, and again, until finally, Yuseff was having a laughing fit. She knew she had to quiet him down, so she had to lay down, and put Yuseff's head against her chest, hoping that her heart beats would calm him down, and that he would go to sleep. He closed his eyes, and after five minutes, he started to breathe more lightly, signaling that he was asleep. 'That should keep him quiet for an hour or so.' Mella thought quietly, as she stroked her hand through his hair repeatedly, and then put him in the substitute carry-on. She then looked at her daughter, and then there was a knock on the door. "Mella, Nawal! Dinner's ready!"

"Alright, we're coming!" Nawal said, as she and Mella got up and went down the stairs. Waiting for them was an assortment of meats, most of them that she has never seen before in her 400 years. Sig took the plate and handed it toward Mella, "Here, guests serve themselves first."

"Ah…" Mella didn't want to impose, but the man looked intimidating, and she didn't want to cross him. She took a tenderloin, and then gave Nawal a small piece of sirloin, and then passed the plate to Izumi. She then began to cut the meat for Nawal. She knew that Nawal could do it herself, but she didn't want Izumi or Sig to become suspicious. "So Mella, how long have you known Edward?"

"About one week," Nawal piped in. She knew her mother would feel awkward pulling out the notebook during dinner, so she decided to answer for her. "Oh, that's interesting." Izumi said. The rest of dinner was enjoyed in silence. Afterward, Nawal tried to help Izumi by cleaning the plates, but Izumi wouldn't have it, even though Mella insisted. Mella decided to go back up to her room, and feed Yuseff. Unbeknownst to any of the others, she had taken some food off of the table and put it in her dress, but wrapped it up of course, so it would not spoil the fabric. "Mother, I am shocked." Nawal said, "I am bewildered at how you can sneak so much food without being noticed."

"Honey, I learned how to sneak out of Lebarya when I was 8. If I could accomplish that feat as a child, I can sneak anything with me without becoming noticed." Nawal giggled. "Maybe I'll be just like you, Mommy."

"No you won't! You'll be better than me! Your life will be so much better than what I had at your age. So don't give me that!" Mella scolded. She had worked so hard to make sure that Nawal and Yuseff would not have the life that she had during her childhood. She had so many dreams for her children, many dreams that were squandered because of that one incident. She will never forgive or forget that happened that one fateful day. 'Don't worry Nawal,' Mella thought, 'your life will be so much better than mine could ever be, I'm sure of it.'

Okay, please R&R, no flames please, but constructive criticism is welcomed.

Hello, my heart. I love you. Are you happy? Yes? Yes!

Little Missy


	4. Ch 4

Neoko-Chan- Thanks for the review!

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA, Hiromu Arakawa does!

Ch 4

Nawal, Mella, and Yuseff all got up at the crack of dawn. Even though most people would believe that they were woken up because of the rooster, which is not the case here. The three of them could not sleep, each of them having their own reasons. Nawal awoke because of the lightning, which woke Yuseff up, who tried to crawl to the window. Yuseff's movement caused Mella to wake up, and to watch closely to her child. Even though Yuseff had lived for over 400 years, his mentality never left that of a toddler. She pulled him close just as he was about to climb out of the window. His lip quivered, as his eyes got big and watery. She opened the window, and splashed some water on him, which made him giggle. She then held him close, and rocked him. Today was the day that they would be going to Yok Island to pick up Ed and Al. Hopefully the rain hadn't been too tough on them. If they got sick, they would have to stay where they were. Mella walked down the stairs holding Nawal's hand. They wanted to see if Izumi was up yet, which they were not. She heard footsteps, and hid Yuseff inside of her cloth. She saw Izumi walking down the corridor, and walked into the kitchen. "So Mella, Nawal, how did you sleep?" Mella just nodded, signaling her answer. Nawal climbed on top of the chair, and then climbed on top of the table, she then started to dance. Izumi looked flabbergasted, while Mella ran and got her off the table. She bent down to her level and said, "Nawal, why did you dance on top of the table?"

"Because it looked like fun!" Nawal exclaimed, with a little sparkle in her eyes.

"What did I tell you about dancing on top of tables?"

"Do not dance on top of any table unless it was of the mean lady's. Mom, I know."

"I believe you owe Ms. Izumi an apology."

"I'm sowy."

"It's alright, but please do not do it again." Sig came in, and put his arm around his wife's shoulders. "Are we all ready to go?"

"Yes honey. Let's be on our way." It was an hour until they got to the dock, and then they got into the canoe. "Mommy! Today we're going to see Eddy!" Eddy is the nickname that Nawal had given him. She hadn't started using it until just recently. She had also given Al a new nickname, Allo. She was a child, and Mella decided that it should stay that way. She didn't need to see the dangers of the world, not just yet. It had only taken thirty minutes for the crew to get over to Yok Island, but Ed and Al were already standing there, waiting for them. "Why hello, Edward. Did you get anything out of being here on this island, for the second time?" Izumi asked. It looked more like a question to irk Edward than her genuinely caring. "Don't be coming to me with that shit!" Ed exclaimed, "there is a freaking psycho that tried to kill us the last time here, and he was here again!"

"That's impossible Ed." Mason said, stepping out of the shadows, "I was the guy there last time."

"You were that psycho that chased us around and beat us up every second you got?" Edward questioned, rage taking over his tone. "You were trying to kill us?" Al said.

"No, I was just doing my job. " Mason said, "Izumi made me come to this island last time to toughen you guys up, and of course to make sure nothing bad happened to you."

"Well, you did a good job there, Captain Obvious," Ed said, still a little miffed. "But there was someone else on this island, and this person is an alchemist. They turned around, and saw someone standing there, stark naked. He looked like a boy, no older than twelve, with black hair, and big blue eyes. Ed turned around, and went over to the boy, he then yelled at him, "Hey, were you the ones that have been chasing us all this time?" The boy nodded, with fear in his eyes. Izumi ran with a towel and wrapped it around the boy. "Enough Edward, can't you see that this boy is frightened? Now tell me, do you have a father or mother?" The boy shook his head, no. "Well, you can come with us." She said, as she put her arm around him. They walked to the canoe, and they all headed back to Dublith. Something was bugging Mella about this boy, but she didn't know what it was. She decided not to voice her opinion, or things could end badly. Later on that day, they arrived at the butcher shop again. They were all presented with a variety of meats. The boy was shoving them down his throat, one right after the other. Izumi slapped his hand on the sixth one and said, "No, you're going to get sick." After the meal, everyone went upstairs into their room. Mella closed the door, and said, "Nawal, that was one strange day, wasn't it?" She looked down but couldn't find her. 'Oh no. Where could that girl have wondered off to?' Mella searched the whole house for Nawal, eventually finding her playing with the boy. "What's your name?" Nawal asked.

"I don't have a name."

"Then I'm going to make one up. It's going to be John."

"John? That's a weird name!"

"No it's not!"

"Yes it is!"

"No it's not!"

"Yes it is! Is! Is!" The two kept screaming at each other. She knew they were just playing around, and didn't mean a word that came out of their mouths. "Nawal, it's time for you to go to bed."

"No mommy! I want to play with John!" Nawal has had no social interaction with anyone around her age. "Fine. 30 minutes, and after that, you must go to bed."

"Yay! What's that?" Nawal pointed to a mouse. The boy smiled, and started to chase it around the room. Mella picked up Nawal so she wouldn't be trampled in the process. Ed and Al entered the room during all of the commotion. "What's going on?" Ed asked. "Edo, John is chasing a mouse!" Nawal said, while clapping her hands in glee. "Who's John?" Al asked.

"That's John, silly Allo!" Nawal said, laughing. Eventually, 'John' caught the mouse. He then started to squeeze it. "Hey, you're going to kill it!" Ed exclaimed, grabbing the mouse away from him. The boy started to cry, and transmuted himself to the bed. He was starting to scream. "Ya idiot! You're going to wake everybody up!" The screaming kept getting worse, until finally, Izumi Curtis and her husband came down and Izumi said, "Stop crying!" The boy looked down at her at shock. "Just remember what you were, remember what you were." The boy pondered for a second, and then transmuted back to his original self. Izumi then hugged the boy, and said, "How dare you frighten this child!"

"But I didn't do anything!" Then Ed muttered, 'stupid kid who freaks out over nothing.'

"What was that Edward?"

"Nothing teacher!" Ed and Al then marched off toward their beds. "Night night John!" Nawal exclaimed, as she and her mother went toward their beds as well. When they entered the room, Mella looked down at Yuseff, she was thankful that the boy's screams did not wake him up. "Mommy, how did he do that?"

"Do what?"

"Become part of the bed. Can I do that?"

"No, sweetheart. No human can do that."

"Then maybe, he's like us."

"I find that very probable. Now let's go to bed." The next day, they all woke up. For some reason, 'John' was very scared of Ed. Izumi made up a new rule that Ed and Al couldn't leave the room. Izumi left to run some errands, and left Mella and Nawal in charge of taking care of 'John.' While Mella was bathing him, a phone came through the ceiling. "Hey Mella, Nawal, we couldn't come out of our rooms, so this is our only effective way of communication."

"That's okay!" Nawal exclaimed, happy to hear Allo's voice. "Hey Mella, I have a question," Al said, "Is there any body part on the boy that doesn't belong?" Mella said something to Nawal, who then said, "His right arm and leg are a different tone, and he has a bite on the top of the right arm." Suddenly, Ed and Al jumped through the ceiling, where Ed started to hostility question the boy. "Where did you get this bite?" The boy shook his head, with fear in his eyes. He then started to run off. "John!" Nawal said, as she started to run off after her. He got to the top of the building, and 'John' sat there in a meditative pose while Nawal started to clap and laugh. John then started to fall off, but was caught by Ed. "What are you doing?" John asked. "I'm saving your dumb ass." Ed said. Mella didn't run off to the roof in case something were to happen to Yuseff, and his existence was discovered. She then saw two soldiers. One was tall and muscular, with a single hair protruding from his forehead, while the other one was shorter and had gray hair. The shorter one took a telescope, and saw something worth mentioning to the taller one. Suddenly, the taller one did a trap, and took John. Nawal was trying to chase after him, and ended up trapped in there with them. Mella then started to chase after them. They then started to chase after them, when they ran into Izumi and Sig. Apparently, Sig was supposed to bring something to Izumi. They told them the situation, and this earned a slap from both of them. They ended up outside of South Headquarters. They looked around, but couldn't find them anywhere. They then went inside the building, and heard screaming coming from Mella. They ran in the direction of the screams. All of these soldiers were taken down, and Mella was trying to get Nawal out of the straps. More soldiers came from the woodwork, and grabbed Mella. She then did a roundkick, and a backhand spring. They all ended up on the ground, knocked out. Everyone else looked shocked, how could Mella do all of these combat tactics. "Where is he?" Mella pointed over to the next room. They ran over there, and saw some soldiers doing tests on them. Izumi did some alchemy, and knocked them out. The boy transmuted his restraints into clothes, and then ran to Izumi. He gave her a hug, and she held him in her arms. She then started to run for it. Ed said, " I'm sorry teacher, but you have to hand him over to us. "

"I don't have to do anything!" She replied, and ran in the opposite direction. The boy was suddenly taken from her arms. The fuehrer said, "You see this," he said, holding up his left foot. He then ran away. Mella looked down, and noticed that Nawal was gone. She did a face palm slap, and then ran into the direction that John was taken.

Nawal was hiding behind some boxes in the room that the fuehrer took John into. He then transformed into something resembling a palm tree. "Hello little one, take some of these." John looked a little scared, and he put the stone into his mouth. He chewed apprehensively, and then found them good. So he had a smile on his face. "Well, I survive on these stones of mine. Be grateful, hundreds of human lives went into making these stones. I'm not human, and neither are you." John then spit them out. "Well, suit yourself. I guess that I will have them all to myself." John then did alchemy, tripping Envy. He then started to shove them into his mouth. Envy smiled, and then laughed. John then saw Nawal in the corner. He nodded, telling her to come over here. Nawal, a little timid, didn't know what to do. Should she go over there? What was she scared of? She was one of them. She walked over toward John, which caused the palm tree to turn around. His eyes grew large, "What is she doing here?"

"She's staying where I am at, with her mom."

"Oh with her mom? Wow, isn't this a coincidence. She can come with us, and this mother of hers." Envy said, with venom. She saw the ouroboros tattoo on his left thigh. "You have one? I have one too!" Nawal exclaimed, "right here!" She said, poking on some fabric. He smiled, and then transformed into the Fuehrer with blood on him, and he hid Nawal behind him. Izumi saw him run out, and he hugged her. Izumi then ran off. He transformed into a soldier, grabbed Nawal, and headed out.

Please R&R, no flames, but constructive criticism welcomed.


	5. Ch 5

Neoko-chan: Thanks for the review, sorry it's so late!

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA, Hiromu Arakawa does!

Ch 5

Nawal and the other homunuculs walked out of that room. He carried around Nawal, and when anyone asked, he said, "Oh, I had to bring my daughter to work today!" and then he would walk off. Nawal kept looking around to see if she could find her mother, and eventually she saw her looking frantically around the corner. She started to giggle, and threw her arms out toward her mother. The other homunculus, however, was not amused. He did not want this other _woman_ finding them. She has had the child for long enough, and now it is his turn. "You listen up, and you listen good. You are not going with your mommy. You are coming with me."

"But you said that if I come, my ooma comes too."

"Well, I lied." He said, as he walked briskly out of the southern headquarters. "But abaa, I want ooma!" Nawal whined, as she thrashed about in the mom's arms. At each passing moment , the homunculus grew more and more frustrated. "I am not your abaa." He said after a moment of silence. His response was of silence. He looked to make sure the kid wasn't doing anything funny. He quickly realized that she was asleep, as young children have a lot of energy, but need to recharge. He became thankful that he could now think in peace.

Meanwhile with Mella

"Where is my baby? Where is my baby!" She yelled, grabbing a soldier's uniform top and rattling him for the answers. He looked confused because he did not understand the language she was screaming in. Ed had decided that enough was enough, and he needed to stop Mella before she obliterated the southern headquarters. "Mella, you need to chill out. That's not how you do things here." Ed said, which ended up with him receiving a bonk on the head from Mella, and her trying to charge at the poor soldier. Before she had any luck, however, Al had her in an arm brace. "Thank you, Al." Ed said as he gave Mella a glare, which she ended up returning. "Have any of you seen a young girl with long blonde hair wearing a red dress who's about this high?" Ed asked, gesturing that Nawal reached up to his knee. "Yes, I do remember seeing her. She was being carried around by a man who claimed to be her father."

"What does he look like?"

He has short light brown hair, and he was in uniform."

"Mella, is that him?" She shook her head, and she became even more confused. Nawal's father had blonde hair that reached his shoulders. There's no way that was her husband… is there?

"But it's weird, actually."

"What's weird?"

"I thought Tyler came in here yesterday devastated because Loralie could never have kids. They have been trying for one since August. Maybe he adopted her?"

"No, he didn't. Because this is her kid!" Edward shouted, pointing at Mella. "And doesn't an adoption take longer than a day?" Al asked. Ed gave him a 'no duh' look as they tried to figure out what to do.

Meanwhile with Nawal

"Where are we abaa?"

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" the man yelled, as he started panting. The homunculus had turned back into his usual form, and he was regretting kidnapping the kid. "I just asked a question, you don't have to be mean, abaa. You were never mean."

"Okay, I admit when I told you that you have to pretend to be my kid while we were at the headquarters was so no one would ask questions. But drop the act! I don't care that you're not with your _mommy _anymore, but you're driving me crazy!" That gave Nawal a great idea. She hasn't done it since before leaving Lebarya, but it was worth a shot. She transformed into her own mother. "You said I'm not with my mother, but now I AM my mother!" She then started to have a couple of laughing fits. He growled, and decided to do the cruelest thing he could think of, and the one he most hated. He had allowed himself to transform back into the form he took as human. She looked with big eyes, and then transformed back into the form she originally was. She ran and jumped the man. "Abaa! Abaa! I missed you so much!" She squealed, as her eyes started to release tears. "I didn't want to leave you, but they made me. I had no choice. I had to go with mommy!"

"What do you mean by they?" Envy asked, him growling every word.

Meanwhile with Mella

After finding out that Nawal was kidnapped, Ed and Al decided to find a private room aboard the train to central to explain everything to Mella. "We believe she is with a group of people called Homunculi." Al explained. "The homunculus she is with is named Envy. And he can take the form of any human. He is very dangerous." Ed and Al were shocked by Mella's expression. They would have expected shock, anger, or even fright across her face. But not nonchalant, it was as if she believed that Nawal was in good hands. "Mella, you do realize that Envy could possibly kill Nawal, right?" Mella grabbed her notebook and wrote 'He could not, and he would not.' Ed gave her a questionable look, "What do you mean he could not? He has killed many other children, Nawal would not be a challenge for him. And what do you mean that he would not?" Mella looked at Ed and then she sighed, maybe it was time for her to tell them the truth.

Please R&R, and no flames, constructive criticism is welcomed. Sorry this chapter is so short. Next time will be longer.


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